1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for production of an electronic component having a terminal electrode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical electronic component having terminal electrodes is a stacked ceramic capacitor. To form the terminal electrodes of such a stacked ceramic capacitor, a capacitor element with stacked internal electrodes is produced, then an electrode paste is coated and dried on the two ends of the capacitor element.
Since it is difficult to coat an electrode paste simultaneously on the two ends of the capacitor element, normally the electrode paste is coated and dried on one end of the capacitor element to form a first end electrode, then the electrode paste is coated and dried on the other end of the element to form a second end electrode.
In this method of the related art, however, differences occurred in the shape of the first end electrode formed first at one end of the capacitor element and the shape of the second end electrode formed second and there was a tendency for the appearance to become unbalanced. In recent years, further, stacked ceramic capacitors have tended to be made increasingly smaller with sides of less than 1 mm. If an unbalance occurs in the shape of the two terminal electrodes, the distance between the two terminal electrodes may become narrower and cause sparks at the time of application of a test voltage, whereby the product will be judged defective and have to be disposed of even without any internal defects and consequently the manufacturing yield will fall. Further, if an unbalance occurs in the shapes of the two terminal electrodes, when mounting the stacked ceramic capacitor on the board, the problem will also arise of easier short-circuiting of the electrodes or mounting defects.
In particular, while the edge shape of the second end electrode formed second is relatively straight, the edge shape of the first end electrode formed first is wavy or rounded and there is a great variation in the dimensions of the edge shape. This has become a factor causing an unbalance in the shapes of the two terminal electrodes.
In the past, there has been no accurate recognition of the terminal electrodes. While various improvements have been made, none have been sufficiently effective.